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Vasıf Kortun, Director of Research & Programs of SALT since its founding in 2011 will be stepping down from his position at the end of March 2017 to join the institution’s Board of Directors. SALT’s new Director of Research & Programs Meriç Öner is a trained architect and has been Associate Director of Research and Programs at SALT since 2011. Öner was editor of the interactive database developed for the exhibition Becoming Istanbul (DAM, Frankfurt am Main, 2008) by GG. Later, she programmed the exhibition’s first display in Turkey at SALT Beyoğlu in 2011, together with “90” talks, presentations, screenings and performances on the city, among many others.

Titled ‚a good neighbour’ and curated by artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset the exhibition will deal with multiple notions of home and neighbourhoods, exploring how living modes in our private spheres have changed throughout the past decades. „Home is approached as an indicator of diverse identities and a vehicle for self-expression, and neighbourhood as a micro-universe exemplifying some of the challenges we face in terms of co-existence today,” the curators explained in the press conference.
Photographs by Turkish artist Ali Taptık were projected behind 40 performers posing the question, what it means to be a good neighbor at the press conference. The photos are part of a series he produced in Istanbul in relation to the theme.

One of the performers at the Press Conference for the 15th Istanbul Biennial. Photo: Ilgin Erarslan Yanmaz

The biennial will be accompanied by an international billboard campaign, created by graphic designer Rupert Smyth together with artists. The campaign, which will be realised through collaborations with multiple cultural institutions worldwide, questions the ways in which neighbourhoods have changed all around the world. The 15th Istanbul Biennial will take place between 16 September and 12 November 2017.

New media art theorist Ebru Yetişkin and artist Bager Akbay will be speaking at a panel at transmediale festival’s 30th edition in a session on Alternative Futurism: Middle-East Imaginaries, together with Ayhan Ayteş, Morehsin Allahyari and Daniel Rourke on 8 February 2017 at Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus in Berlin. Works by Turkish new media artist Pınar Yoldaş will be on view at the transmediale exhibition Alien Matter at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, which was curated by Inke Arns on view from 3 February until 5 March 2017.

Running from 13 May – 26 November 2017, the main exhibition of the 57th Venice Biennial – titled 'Viva Arte Viva', curated by Christine Macel – includes works by artists Hale Tenger and Nevin Aladağ from Turkey. Aladağ’s 'Traces' is a 3-channel video work. On three separate projection surfaces, Aladağ creates a large-scale sound-and-image portrait of the city of Stuttgart, the place she spent her childhood and adolescence.
Hale Tenger’s 7 channel video installation entitled 'Balloons on the Sea' takes its subject directly from a popular pastime practiced along the Bosphorus in Istanbul and along the coasts of Turkey; a game of shooting at balloons laid on the sea.

Şükran Moral’s 'Bordello' has been acquired by Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, Poland. Moral is one of the seminal performance artists in Turkey. Her work challenges the position of women in society, focusing in particular on violence against women or other underrepresented groups. Moral’s performances have often taken place in very diverse spaces, from brothels and hamams to mental hospitals, disrupting thus their normal function and turning them into discursive platforms for art.

At the Pavilion of Turkey, Cevdet Erek presents 'ÇIN', a site-specific installation which uses architecture and sound to explore poetic and political imaginings. Its title has been imagined as a sound signal that foretells the work. An onomatopoeic word in Turkish, 'ÇIN' imitates a specific percussive sound, and is also a root from which the words reverberation and tinnitus are derived.
With ÇIN, Erek continues the experimentation of themes and methods which he has investigated in his previous series 'Room of Rhythms', 'Rulers and Rhythms Studies' and 'Sound Ornamentations'. In these works, rhythms of history, every day and nature are formalised in the coming together of sound, architecture and performance; visual and sonic timelines are constructed; and architectural ornamentation is created through the use of sound patterns and speech.

Pre-conceptualisation, experimentation and improvisation each play a part in ÇIN’s creation. The basis of Erek’s work for the Pavilion of Turkey consists of a spatial programme concretised by an architectural construction and a multichannel sound installation that were conceived in tandem. Sounds - all produced in the space after its physical construction was completed - guide the one’s passage and are confronted both sequentially and as an infinite variety of combinations. Their complex configurations are at times immersive and at other moments are obscured due to the position and direction of the visitor, generating unseen boundaries and articulating transitivity. Over the course of the Biennale Arte 2017 ÇIN will also be open to interventions: in enabling artists to perform in the space, for instance, with the original sounds varied or switched off. Its form is never final.

Taking place from 16 September - 12 November 2017, the 15th edition of the Istanbul Biennial, entitled 'a good neighbour' brings together artworks by 55 artists from 32 countries, all addressing different notions of home, belonging and neighbourhood. The biennial takes place in six neighbouring venues: Istanbul Modern, Galata Greek Primary School, Ark Kültür, Pera Museum, Yoğunluk Atelier, and Küçük Mustafa Paşa Hammam.

Instead of a statement, the curators, artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset, developed 40 questions that have guided the process of making the exhibition. These questions were first presented live in Istanbul by 40 performers of different ages, genders and backgrounds in December 2016, and were shared on the Biennial’s website and social media accounts. A video documentation of the press conference can found through this youtube link.

“Your neighbour might be someone who lives quite a different life from yours. And hopefully you, unlike many politicians lately, are not the one who chooses to deal with your fear of otherness by fencing yourself off. The artists in the 15th Istanbul Biennial raise questions about ideas of home, neighbourhood, belonging and co-existence from multiple perspectives. Some of the artworks examine how our domestic living conditions and modes have changed and how our neighbourhoods have transformed, while others focus on how we cope with today’s geopolitical challenges on a micro-level. The Biennial takes its form from the invited artists’ personal or analytical statements: an engaging mixture of hopes and visions, of sadness and indignation, of history and present day.”
Elmgreen & Dragset, curators of the 15th Istanbul Biennial

From Moscow to Sydney: The International Billboard Project

In anticipation of the exhibition, the 15th Istanbul Biennial launched an International Billboard Project to share the theme of 'a good neighbour' in different cities around the world. Through collaborations with cultural institutions worldwide, the International Billboard Project displays a carefully curated selection of photographs by Lukas Wassmann, which capture unexpected encounters paired with questions asking what makes a good neighbour. Host cities include Moscow (Russia), Sydney (Australia), Milan (Italy), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Armagh, Ballynahinch, Belfast, Downpatrick and Newry (Northern Ireland), Southhampton (UK), Calgary (Canada), Plovidv (Bulgaria), and Chicago (USA), Seoul and Gwangju (South Korea).

The gallery opened its doors in December in Istanbul’s Karaköy neighborhood with the exhibition ‘When Did We Stop Playing...’ curated by Isabel Bernheimer from Berlin based Bernheimer Contemporary Gallery. The new, five-storey gallery space is also going to host an Artist in Residency programme. Anna Laudel Contemporary, formerly ART350 gallery, was founded in 2012 by the German textile magnate Anna Laudel.

In a press conference on 27 February acclaimed conceptual artist Cevdet Erek announced the concept of ÇIN - his project for Turkey's Pavilion at the 57th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia.

Cevdet Erek at the Press Conference for Turkey's Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennial, Photo: Selcuk Polat, Courtesy of IKSV

At the conference, Cevdet Erek illustrated some methods and concepts that he has experimented with in his series of works since the end of the 2000’s, such as 'Room of Rhythms' and 'Rulers and Rhythms Studies and Sound Ornamentations' among others, with sounds, images and drawings he made during his presentation.

ÇIN, which is created as a site-specific work for the Pavilion of Turkey at this year's edition of the Biennale di Venezia, will be developed during the process and be shaped together with the venue. In his presentation, Cevdet Erek gave examples of the studies conducted for the preparation of the work ÇIN, shared through various media.

The artist stated:

"Instead of trying to describe a project that is meant to be experienced on-site, and is still in the phase of formation, I propose to imagine a scene together as an exercise: There is a fenced ruin in the distance with a guard inside of it who should not leave during the day. The guard, while walking in silence, notices a visitor who carefully peeks around and the concert of thousands of crickets thanks to the visitor. This duo, who try to talk to each other at a distance, briefly cry out at the same time from the ear pain caused by a violent noise that occurs out of the blue. Then, at night, in another place as the officer tries to suppress the ringing in her ears by opening the window two fingerbreadths and the noise a notch, enters an alarm sound: ‘viyuviyuviyuviyu’. Then she tries to imagine again in the same order by going back to the beginning.”

Cevdet Erek, who talked about the working process in Istanbul and accompanying short trips, introduced the core project team and stated that the project would allow for new participants and collaborations. The project team includes project coordinator Yelin Bilgin, architect and Gürden Gür, architect, as well as Elif Tunçel, art historian, Ayşe Erek and visual identity designer Yetkin Başarır. A new publication accompanies the exhibition and will be available at the launch of the Pavilion of Turkey at the biennial

The Pavilion of Turkey will be located in the Arsenale at Sale d’Armi where the exhibition takes place. The long-term venue was secured by İKSV for the duration of 20 years from 2014 to 2034 and supported by generous contributions of 21 supporters. The exhibition in the Pavilion of Turkey at La Biennale di Venezia is sponsored by Fiat, and realised with the contribution of Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey and the production support of SAHA Association.

During and after studying architecture at Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts, Cevdet Erek (b. Istanbul, 1974) worked at various architectural practices as well as in the music band Nekropsi. Upon finishing his MA in Sound Engineering & Design at İTÜ MIAM Center for Advanced Studies in Music, he was an artist in residence at Rijksakademie in Amsterdam from 2005-2006. Erek’s installations and performances were shown at dOCUMENTA (13) (2012); Istanbul Biennial (2003, 2013 and 2015), Sydney Biennial (2016), Sharjah Biennial (2013), Stedelijk Museum (2014), MAXXI (2014 and 2015), Istanbul Modern (2014, 2015 and 2016), Arter (2011), SALT (2012 ve 2015) among others. Major solo exhibitions of his work include 'Alt Üst' (2014) at Spike Island, Bristol and 'Week' at Kunsthalle Basel (2012). Erek published books such as 'SSS – Shore Scene Soundtrack' (2008, BAS), 'Room of Rhythms' (2012, Walther König) and 'Less Empty Maybe” (2015, Revolver/Artist). The artist received the Nam June June Paik Media Art Prize given by Kunststiftung NRW in 2012 for 'SSS – Shore Scene Soundtrack'. His most recent sound/music works include the sound and music direction for Kaan Müjdeci's feature length film 'Sivas' (71st Venice Film Festival - Special Jury Prize, 2014), music and the sound co-design for Emin Alper’s feature length film 'Frenzy' (72nd Venice Film Festival - Special Jury Prize, 2015). Since 2011 Cevdet Erek teaches at ITU and lives in Istanbul.

This summer, Tate Modern will present the UK’s first retrospective of Fahrelnissa Zeid (b. 1901, Istanbul, d. 1991, Amman), reappraising her work in an international context. Zeid was a pioneering artist best known for her large-scale, colourful canvases – some over 5 metres wide – fusing European approaches to abstract art with Byzantine, Islamic and Persian influences.

This major exhibition will bring together paintings, drawings and sculptures spanning over 40 years – from expressionist works made in Istanbul in the early 1940s, to immersive abstract canvases exhibited in London, Paris and New York in the 1950s and 1960s, finishing with her return to portraiture later in life. Celebrating her extraordinary career, Tate Modern will reveal Zeid as an important figure in the international story of abstract art.

Documenta 14 includes several works by artists from Turkey in both Athens and Kassel. Banu Cennetoğlu’s work 'Gurbet’s Diary' (27.07.1995–08.10.1997) (2016-7) in Athens is dedicated to Gurbetelli Ersöz, who was a journalist, and the only woman to hold the position of editor at a pro-Kurdish newspaper. After being arrested and tortured, she joined the guerilla, keeping a journal from 1995 until 1997 when she was killed. After its first publication in Germany in 1998, the diary was published in Turkey in 2014, but banned shortly after. The lithographic slabs of 'Gurbet's Diary' contain the pages of the diary, ready to be printed again. Her work 'BEINGSAFEISSCARY' (2017) in Kassel consists of ten aluminum letters borrowed from the Fridericianum and six letters cast in brass after the existing ones, based on graffiti existing on a wall at the National Technical University of Athens.

In Nevin Aladağ’s installation / performance 'Music Room' in Athens, items of furniture and household objects turn into resonating bodies that develop their own acoustic properties attributable to their shapes as evocative of the human body. In the process, prevailing notions of functionality, ergonomics, and purity of sound are called into question. Her installation entitled 'Jali​' (2017) in Kassel
consists of glazed ceramics. Gülsün Karamustafa’s installation 'The Apartment Building' (2012) and Köken Ergun's two-channel video projection 'I, Soldier' (2005) are part of the collection exhibition of Greece's National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) at Fridericianum in collaboration with documenta 14.
The works will be on view in Athens until 18 July and in Kassel until 17 September 2017.

Banu Cennetoğlu, BEINGSAFEISSCARY (2017), Ten aluminum letters borrowed from the Fridericianum and six letters cast in brass after the existing ones, Based on graffiti existing on a wall at the National Technical University of Athens as of April 6, 2017, 57.5 × 1085 × 1 cm overall
Coproduced with Kunstgiesserei St. Gallen, Sitterwerk, Switzerland, installation view at Friedrichsplatz, Kassel, documenta 14. photo: Frieze

Turkish galleries Galeri Zilberman and Öktem & Aykut are representing Turkey at Basels art week this year. Öktem & Aykut are showing works by Elif Boyner and Lara Ögel at Liste, while Zilberman Gallery is participating in Volta with works by Alpin Arda Bağcık and Ahmet Elhan.

Delia Jürgens, The Target is myself – I reach the Point of no Effort – the Arrow leaves the Bow | Materialization 2015 / 2016 | part of Cloud Storage, Speisesaal Kyoto | photo Nora Lammers | courtesy the artist

In September 2017, Istanbul-based gallery Sanatorium will officially open the doors to its new gallery space at Schleifmühlgasse 3, in 1040 Vienna with an exhibition titled CYBER CORPOREALITY curated by Sabrina Steinek.

Rapid advances in information and communication technology are revolutionizing our every day life. Objective reality and the virtual world continue to merge into one another, blurring the thin line dividing them. And that’s just a brief snapshot of the complex reality we’re living in. Technology is developing rapidly; faster than we thought. And this speed is what makes it so challenging for us humans and our limited bodies. It seems as though humanity has reached the peak of evolution, as though the only way for an upgrade is by the means of technology. It’s already happening — avatars, cyborgs, virtual and augmented reality technologies and AI are being incorporated in our everyday life.

But if we’re creating new digital identities, new bodies and thereby new worlds, we have to ask ourselves what corporeality means in the 21st century. We have to reassess the objects we encounter.

How do embodied objects and materials reflect on the corporeal and its potentialities or limits? How do the objects and concepts we encounter these days shape and create bodies? How can we read and define bodies in analogue and digital spaces? CYBER CORPOREALITY is dedicated to explore the interplay and relationship between technology and corporeality in contemporary art.

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